THESIS: The Skin Investigation Society

Overview

The Skin Investigation Society (THESIS) was established in 1990 by Clive Archer. Shortly after being appointed in Bristol, he wrote to all of the dermatology registrars/senior registrars in the UK to see how much interest there would be in forming a research group for registrars/senior registrars and ‘young’ consultants. He received an overwhelmingly positive and enthusiastic response and so the ‘Young Research Group’ was established. Please download the Formation of THESIS document for more information.

Aims

The aims of THESIS are to encourage registrars and young consultants to develop a theme of research, hopefully towards a higher degree in addition to high quality publications. This has been achieved by organising THESIS meetings once per year. The meetings are designed to be informal, a little bit like the Dowling Club meetings, and the intention is to complement the more formal research meetings such as the BSID and the ESDR.

New Members of THESIS

Membership of THESIS is free. New registrars who are interested in joining THESIS or who wish to receive information about THESIS meetings should write to the THESIS organiser - Dr Mike Ardern-Jones at the University of Southampton School of Medicine, South Block, Level F (825), Tremona Road, Southampton, SO16 6YD or m.aj@soton.ac.uk

Dr Clive Archer will maintain his role as the THESIS librarian and is continually on the look out for new theses for the library, these can be sent either to Bristol or to the BAD directly. He can also be contacted on clive.archer@gstt.nhs.uk

THESIS Meetings and the THESIS/BAD/BSID Research Course

THESIS meetings provide a forum for participants who already have research experience to share information drawn from their studies, along the lines of: How they set-up their work, how they went about organising any collaborative studies, problems encountered along the way, and what, in retrospect, they might have done differently. In addition, those new to dermatology gain early exposure to peer research along with practical advice about how to pursue a particular theme of research, in the context of their clinical training.

The meeting is open to SpRs in Dermatology and to SHOs/foundation year trainees who wish to pursue a career in either clinical or academic dermatology. New consultants are most welcome and SpRs in years one and two are particularly encouraged to attend. In 2006 the THESIS meetings evolved into the THESIS/BAD/BSID Research course a new annual event at Willan House. For information about presentations at previous meetings and details about future meetings please see the THESIS Meetings & Abstracts document.

THESIS Library

The landmark of 100 theses in the THESIS Library was reached in 2004 and Clive Archer The Skin Investigation Society Annual Research Fellowship was established to mark this achievement.

THESIS Activities

Clive Archer THESIS Fellowship

This Fellowship is awarded once a year by The Skin Investigation Society (THESIS) to the dermatology trainee who has completed the best M.D. or Ph.D. thesis. The award of £500 will be made in retrospect once the higher degree has been awarded by an appropriate university. In 2021 only higher degrees awarded* before 31st December 2020 will be considered for the Clive Archer THESIS Fellowship.

Theses submitted for consideration for Clive Archer THESIS Fellowship will be donated to the THESIS Library for which there is a separate payment of £35 towards the cost of the binding.

As a condition of receiving the prize, the winner must give a presentation at the THESIS/BAD/BSID meeting which takes place in June each year at Willan House, London.

The Dermatology Prize was established in the year 2000 to mark the 10th anniversary of the formation of The Skin Investigation Society (THESIS), a national research group for young doctors which began in Bristol.

The University of Bristol student prize to the value of £100, is awarded annually to the clinical medical student who performs best in the Dermatology examination or assessment, to be decided by the Course Organiser for Dermatology in Bristol. The aim of this prize is to encourage students to learn more about skin diseases and to have a greater appreciation of their importance in medicine as a whole.

RSM Dermatology Library Website

The Royal Society of Medicine Library has a very good Dermatology section with an excellent collection of up-to-date and older books, along with a broad range of dermatology and other medical and scientific journals. The RSM Council for Dermatology has been generous in funding the RSM Library. For more information about the dermatology library at the RSM, please visit https://www.rsm.ac.uk/library